How Will Google SGE Affect Ecommerce? 

By changing search results usage, Search Generative Experience (SGE) has a huge impact on e-commerce businesses since you would also use the visitors to your advantage by transforming the search results. Before we dive more deeply into the topic, it would be better for us to tell you about what the search generative experience (SGE) is or what ecommerce is about. 

What Is Search Generative Experience? 

Search Generative Experience is a feature that aims to offer a more detailed and personalized search experience to users so they can see more product previews through the search results. “Search generative experience” involves using a search query to create new content through AI or machine learning. For example, inputting a phrase into a model like DALL-E generates a unique image, while a language model like GPT-4 produces a text response based on the query. This showcases AI’s ability to retrieve and generate original content.

What Is E-Commerce? 

E-commerce, also known as electronic commerce, is buying and selling products by providing services to your customers online. In time, it became an important stepping stone for many businesses worldwide. 

The Shift in Online Shopping with AI-Driven Search 

Regarding AI-driven search in online shopping, it is obvious that it has changed the nature of online shopping dramatically. However, what kind of AI-driven search engine features changed online shopping? Let’s look at the important shifts in online shopping: 

1. Improved Personalization: The personalization of an AI-driven search engine offers a detailed shopping experience to the users and shows products that match the users’ preferences. 
2. Visual and Voice Search: AI-driven search provides you with both visual search and voice search. Visual search is a feature that allows you to search for products using the image of the product you are looking for. On the other hand, voice search allows you to search the product you are looking for without typing. 
3. Chatbots and Customer Support: AI-driven chatbots are the features that keep improving over time if users require assistance with product recommendations or accurate navigation to popular e-commerce platforms. 

Changing SEO Strategies for E-Commerce in the SGE Era 

In time, SEO strategies for e-commerce businesses will keep in step with the changing environment of search generative experience, meaning that the changing environment will also evolve into an improved version. Let’s look at these strategies that impact the SGE era: 

1. Visual Optimization: Visual displays are important in E-Commerce businesses, so the SGE prioritizes optimizing visual content. High-quality images are crucial when it comes to the visual search results. 
2. Product Information: E-commerce websites always adjust the product information because it is crucial for it to be updated. SGE puts the product information in search results for it to be seen by more visitors. 
3. Mobile Optimization: Since there are more mobile users than desktop users, SGE prioritizes the mobile experience for visitors visiting the website through mobile devices. 

Adapting Keywords and Content for AI-enhanced Search 

To optimize keywords for AI-enhanced search, you need to understand how the process of the AI algorithm works. There are a number of ways for you to optimize your keywords. One of the most popular strategies to optimize the keywords is focusing on natural language. In order to do that, you need to emphasize the phrases that native speakers use in conversations. Another way for optimizing keywords is using semantic SEO, which prioritizes the context and topic of the sentence instead of prioritizing the keywords. Do not forget the fact that you have to prepare content that will include your users’ preferences. This strategy will be engaging for your users and will work perfectly in AI-enhanced search. 

Optimizing Product Listings for Google SGE 

There are different ways for you to optimize the product listings for Google SGE. Let’s look at the other options: 

1. User Reviews: Adding user reviews will increase the visibility of search results. 
2. User Experience: Satisfying the users is crucial. In order to do that, you can offer your users a product categorization and product filter option. 
3. Mobile Optimization: As we mentioned earlier, there are more mobile users than desktop users. Considering that fact, you need to create mobile-friendly product listings.  

Leveraging Structured Data and Rich Snippets for Enhanced Visibility 

It may not seem like that, but leveraging structured data and rich snippets is crucial for visibility. However, we would have been at fault if we happened to say that there are no ways for you to make more structured data and rich snippets. In order to make more structured data and rich snippets, you can use schema.org to implement the structured data markup. The other way is using local business markup to provide business information, which is good for map listings. In addition, adding FAQPage markup for a certain product will provide answers to users. 

Optimizing E-Commerce Marketing in the SGE Environment 

The first thing you need to know before you learn how to optimize E-Commerce marketing in the Google SGE environment is to implement these strategies. Now you know the first important thing about optimizing E-Commerce marketing, let’s look at the different strategies for optimization: 

1. Visual and Interactive Content: Using 360-degree views of a product and high-quality visual content will attract users and show the results in search results. 
2. Product Information: Providing product information will definitely help users get detailed information about a product, so do not forget to optimize your product information. 
3. AI-Driven Analytics: Make use of AI tools to analyze your users’ preferences. 

Performance Advertising

One of the ways to deal with performance advertising in the SGE environment is optimizing visually appealing ads for a better user experience. Adding real-time bidding is another way to deal with performance advertising. In addition, combining advertising across more than two channels will increase user experience. 

Google Merchant Center 

Google Merchant Center keeps E-Commerce product information inside its system and displays it in other Google services. In the Google SGE environment, Google Merchant Center can update product feeds often, combine campaigns to focus on advertising related to product listings, and it can also check the performance metrics of Google Merchant Center. 

Reviews and Public Relations 

Reviews are not only crucial for impacting users’ decisions in general but are also important in Google SGE. The first thing you need to do is create an environment where users will embrace the idea of seeking information about a certain product just by looking at the reviews. The second thing you need to consider is creating an environment where users will respond to these reviews with both positive and negative criticism. The important thing is that constructive criticism is needed. 

The Evolution of Search-Generative Experience 

In this article, we talked about how Search Generative Experience will affect E-Commerce in a detailed way. Since SGE is still in the middle of development, there still may be some flaws inside of the SGE, but it does not mean that SGE will maintain its current version until the end without even improving, or it will abandon the purpose of providing personalized search results and ignores users’ preferences. The crazy thing is that SGE has a huge potential to change the business world in the future. But for now, SGE will need time to improve to its best version.